Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 19, Number 4, 2016 71 Organizational Culture and Organization Based Self- Esteem as Predictors of Spirit at work Zeynep Merve Ünal Marmara University, Turkey Tülay Turgut Marmara University, Turkey 1. Introduction The past several years have witnessed explosion of interest in spirituality at workplace among practitioners and scholars. As Benefiel (2003) discussed „„spirituality and management, once thought incompatible, have in the past decade fallen in love‟‟ (p. 383). Laabs (1995) stressed that „„defining spirituality in the workplace is like capturing an angel. It is ethereal and beautiful but perplexing‟‟ (p. 64). According to French existentialist Albert Camus: „„without work, all life goes rotten but when work is soulless, life stifles and dies‟‟ (quoted in U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1973, p. xix). This quote explains the philosophy under the spirituality. They evaluate spirituality to create meaning in life, give meaning to actions in the workplace context. Amabile and Kramer (2012) found that employees who perceive their works as meaningful are more creative, productive, committed and collegial. Fry (2003) who has developed the model of spiritual leadership asserted that spirituality reveals and fulfill the deepest needs of leaders and followers to spiritually survive through creating a culture of hope, faith and altruistic love. Other scholars stated that having connection with higher source, putting the highest power before the business give helps leaders to face unexpected conditions with courage and confidence as well as keeping a strong connection with self, others and their environment (Howard, 2002; Pratt, 2000). One of the predictors of spirit at work is organizational culture in which the idea of organizational family is fostered and employees take care of each other as well as their customers (Freiberg & Freiberg, 1996). According to symbolic interaction theory (Mead, 1934) human being interpret or define each other‟s actions or behaviors based on the meaning which they attach the actions. Thus, human interaction is mediated by symbols or interpretations. In this study, the action of spirit at work is predicted by organizational culture, and organization-based self- esteem which is seen a mediator variable between organizational culture and spirit
26
Embed
Organizational Culture and Organization Based Self- Esteem ...jhss-khazar.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/son.6... · Organizational Culture and Organization Based Self-Esteem as Predictors
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 19, Number 4, 2016
71
Organizational Culture and Organization Based Self-
Esteem as Predictors of Spirit at work
Zeynep Merve Ünal Marmara University, Turkey
Tülay Turgut Marmara University, Turkey
1. Introduction
The past several years have witnessed explosion of interest in spirituality at
workplace among practitioners and scholars. As Benefiel (2003) discussed
„„spirituality and management, once thought incompatible, have in the past decade
fallen in love‟‟ (p. 383). Laabs (1995) stressed that „„defining spirituality in the
workplace is like capturing an angel. It is ethereal and beautiful but perplexing‟‟ (p.
64). According to French existentialist Albert Camus: „„without work, all life goes
rotten but when work is soulless, life stifles and dies‟‟ (quoted in U.S. Department
of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1973, p. xix). This quote explains the
philosophy under the spirituality. They evaluate spirituality to create meaning in
life, give meaning to actions in the workplace context. Amabile and Kramer (2012)
found that employees who perceive their works as meaningful are more creative,
productive, committed and collegial. Fry (2003) who has developed the model of
spiritual leadership asserted that spirituality reveals and fulfill the deepest needs of
leaders and followers to spiritually survive through creating a culture of hope, faith
and altruistic love. Other scholars stated that having connection with higher source,
putting the highest power before the business give helps leaders to face unexpected
conditions with courage and confidence as well as keeping a strong connection
with self, others and their environment (Howard, 2002; Pratt, 2000). One of the
predictors of spirit at work is organizational culture in which the idea of
organizational family is fostered and employees take care of each other as well as
their customers (Freiberg & Freiberg, 1996). According to symbolic interaction
theory (Mead, 1934) human being interpret or define each other‟s actions or
behaviors based on the meaning which they attach the actions. Thus, human
interaction is mediated by symbols or interpretations. In this study, the action of
spirit at work is predicted by organizational culture, and organization-based self-
esteem which is seen a mediator variable between organizational culture and spirit
72 Zeynep Merve Ünal,Tülay Turgut
at work. Organization-based self-esteem emphasizes one‟s sense of personal
adequacy as a member in organization (Pierce, Gardner, Cummings, & Dunham,
1989). Cognitive consistency theory suggests that employees who perceive
themselves valuable and meaningful in organization will make an attempt on
engaging behaviors (Korman, 1971).
Mechanistically designed social systems have negative effect on an impersonality
of interpersonal relationships, job dissatisfaction and alienation (Chattopadhyay,
2003; Pierce et al., 1989). Therefore, organizational culture that masculine values
are commonly shared might affect the existence of spirit at work lesser and
organization based self-esteem might have a mediating role in this relationship. On
the contrary, when employees feel that their organization is flexible, give
importance to relationship and intimacy, they will tend to interpret this as „„I am
competent, valuable and contributing in this organization‟‟ which will resulted as
increasing experience of positive affect, physical sensations and interpersonal
connections. Put differently, the more individuals have interaction with the
environment which encourages systems of beliefs about their self, the more those
beliefs become part of the self (Korman, 1971) that might lead to one whose work
makes contribution, have sense of connection with others and common purpose and
awareness of connection larger than self.
1.1. Spirituality and Its relation with similar concepts
Spirituality is derived from Latin word spiritus, meaning breath of life and often
defined as „„a search for meaning, for unity, for connectedness, for transcendence,
and for the highest of human potential‟‟ (Emmons, 1999, p. 5); „„the basic feeling
of being connected with one‟s complete self, others and the entire universe in a
certain ends or purpose that go beyond self‟‟ (McKnight, 1984, p. 138);
„„individual lives meaningfully with ultimacy, his or her response to the deepest
truths of the universe‟‟ (Bregman & Thierman, 1995, p. 149); „„the journey to find
a sustainable, authentic, meaningful, holistic, and profound understanding of the
existential self and its relationship/interconnectedness with the sacred and the
transcendent‟‟ (Karakas, 2010, p. 91).
In literature, there have been some terms overlap or related with spirituality. Some
of them are altruism and self-actualization. Altruistic behavior has been defined as
„„behavior that benefits another organism, not closely related, while being
apparently detrimental to the organism performing the behavior, benefit and
detriment being defined in terms of contribution to inclusive fitness‟‟ (Trivers,
1971, p. 35). In spirituality literature, spirituality has often been linked to positive
outcomes such as feelings of sympathy, empathy, compassion, involvement,
Organizational Culture and Organization Based Self-Esteem …. 73
tenderness, and gratitude (Valliant, 2008); more altruistic behavior (Saroglou,
Pichon, Trompette, Verschueren, & Dernelle, 2005); and experiencing more
compassionate love for close others and strangers (Sprecher & Fehr, 2005). These
lines of evidence suggest that altruism is one of the expected types of behaviors
where spirituality is experienced.
According to Maslow‟s theory of human motivation, when physiological, safety,
love and esteem needs are satisfied, we may expect reaching of self-actualization
(full humanness). Abraham Maslow defines self-actualization in his book of
„„Farther Reaches of Human Nature‟‟. „„Self-actualization means experiencing
fully, vividly, self-lessly, with full concentration and total absorption. It is an
ongoing process that includes making a growth choice, listening to impulsive
voices, being honest, taking responsibility, experiencing transient moments, and
finding out who one is, what he is, what his mission‟‟(Maslow, 1971, p. 43-47).
Maslow‟s (1971) point of view highlights that climax of self-actualization is a peak
experience and it is a realization of ought and is. It is merging of subject and
object, involving no loss of subjectivity, instead its infinite extension. Therefore, it
can be concluded that one who has been experiencing a search for meaning, for
unity, for connectedness, for transcendence, and for the highest of human potential
has already been self-actualized. But, as the statement emphasized „„if one need is
satisfied, then another emerges‟‟, does not mean a need must be satisfied a hundred
per cent to reach next need. According to Maslow (1943) as we go up the hierarchy
of prepotency, the percentage of satisfaction level decreases. Therefore, we might
say that people who have spiritual tendency are the ones mostly satisfy their needs
in the hierarchy of needs and experience self-actualization.
1.2. Spirit at work
Spirit at work has been defined as a „„distinct state that is characterized by
cognitive, interpersonal, spiritual, and mystical dimensions. Spirit at work
involves: engaging work characterized by a profound feeling of well-being, a belief
that one is engaged in meaningful work that has a higher purpose, an awareness of
alignment between one‟s values and beliefs and one‟s work, and a sense of being
authentic; a spiritual connection characterized by a sense of connection to
something larger than self; a sense of community characterized by a feeling of
connectedness to others and common purpose; and a mystical or unitive experience
characterized by a positive state of energy or vitality, a sense of perfection,
transcendence, and experiences of joy and bliss‟‟ (Kinjerski & Skrypnek, 2006, p.
16-17).
74 Zeynep Merve Ünal,Tülay Turgut
The first dimension of spirit at work „„engaging work‟‟ points out finding meaning
in life by seeking meaningful work. Neck and Milliman (1994, p. 9) stated that
„„work is intended to be one of the most profound ways… of experiencing
spirituality‟‟. According to Neck and Milliman (1994) employees might ask some
question to find „„meaning‟‟ in their work: „„what is it that I have to offer? What is
my purpose here at work or life? What do I want to leave behind here?‟‟ (p. 10).
The answers of these questions determine the meaning in work. The second
dimension „„spiritual connection‟‟ emphasizes a connection to something greater
than oneself. Ashforth and Pratt (2003) labelled it as a „„transcendence of self‟‟.
Something greater than oneself might be perceived as ambiguous. Ashforth and
Pratt (2003, p. 93) suggested that the „„something can be other people, causes,
nature or a belief in a higher power‟‟. The third dimension „„sense of community‟‟
states feeling of connection to others and common purpose. According to
Krishnakumar and Neck (2002) sense of community at work is crucial for people
to experience „„that inexplicable feeling of connectedness with others and the
universe‟‟ (p. 156) in order to be nourished by spirituality. The last dimension
„„mystical or unitive experience‟‟ points out sense of perfection, transcendence and
experiences joy, bliss, awe-inspiring and mysterious, living in the moment are
expanded in four conscious awareness: „„(1) consciousness of self; (2)
consciousness of other; (3) group consciousness; and (4) to organize in harmony
with the unseen order of things‟‟ (Mirvis, 1997, p. 194-195). According to Hood
(1975) mystical experience can be introvertive and extrovertive. Introvertive
mystical experience includes consciousness of a timeless and spaceless ultimate
void. Extrovertive mystical experience involves unity with all things. Similarly
Stace (1960) observed that mystical experiences were generally characterized by a
profound feeling of unity or interconnectedness, and resulted that the core
experience of unity was „„the essence of all mystical experience‟‟ (p. 132).
According to findings of Kinjerski and Skrypnek (2006) there are some factors that
fosters employee‟s experience of spirit at work such as inspired leadership, strong
organizational foundation, organizational integrity, positive workplace culture and
space, sense of community among members, opportunities for personal fulfillment,
continuous learning and development and appreciation and regard for employees
and their contribution. In a similar vein, Krishnakumar and Neck (2002)
highlighted that „„spirituality is recognized as one of the considerable dimensions
of the human personality. Therefore, if an organization encourages spirituality,
then it is actually encouraging the people to bring their whole self to work‟‟ (p.
159).
Organizational Culture and Organization Based Self-Esteem …. 75
1.3. Organizational Culture: Feminine vs. Masculine
The concept of culture exists at different levels: national culture and organizational
culture. Hofstede (1980) defined culture as „„a mental programming that
distinguishes a group of people from others‟‟ (p. 43). As for that, organizational
culture is collective mental programming that separates members of an
organization from any other members of any other organizations. With respect to
masculine and feminine cultural assumptions Hofstede (1983) emphasized
„„Masculine and Feminine‟‟ national cultures as the division of roles between
genders in the society. According to Acker (1990, p. 55) gender is configured „„by
means of the practices, images, ideologies and the transmission of power
throughout the different sectors of the social life‟‟.
While masculine societies give importance of showing off, of making money, of
achieving; feminine societies adapt feminine roles such as not showing off, giving
importance to relationship with people rather than money, helping others, and
preservation of environment. As an example, Hofstede (2001) claims that while
masculine values are characterized by assertiveness and competitiveness, feminine
values are characterized by modesty and cooperation. The other cultural
characteristics such as high power distance, low uncertainty avoidance,
individualism, and long term orientation are related with masculinity where as low
power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, and short term
orientation are related with femininity.
Cliff, Langton and Aldrich (2005) defined the key dimensions of gender-
stereotypical organizational archetypes as follows: Feminine organizations are flat,
downplay rules and standards, show responsiveness and attentiveness for the needs
of others, they give importance to relational orientations. Masculine organizations
are hierarchical, stick to the impersonal rules and standards, adopt an instrumental
orientation, and see individuals as resources and mean in order to accomplish
goals.
According to findings of Pool‟s study (2000), while a constructive organizational
culture decreases role conflict and role ambiguity, the passive organizational
culture increases role conflict and role ambiguity. In another study (Rashid,
Sambasivan, & Johari, 2003) it is found out that consensual organizational culture
that fosters loyalty and team work has positive relationship with affective
commitment, on the contrary, competitive organizational culture is positively
related with continuance commitment. Additionally, consensual organizational
culture has more positive contribution on financial performance (Return on
Investment) of the organization than competitive organizational culture. In another
76 Zeynep Merve Ünal,Tülay Turgut
study, Moghali and Maleki tabas (2009) found out that hierarchical organizational
culture has negative contribution on organizational creativity whereas collaborative
organizational culture has positive contribution on organizational creativity.
1.4. Organization based Self-esteem
Organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) is „„the self-perceived value that
individuals have of themselves as organization members acting within an
organizational context (Pierce et al., 1989, p. 625). In order to fully understand
OBSE, it is essential to state the definition of self-esteem. Self-esteem is the degree
of a belief about individuals see themselves as a competent, need-satisfying and
able (Korman, 1976). When an organization member evaluates himself as
personally adequate, important, competent and capable within employing
organization high OBSE occurs. This belief is resulted as „„I count around here‟‟.
In other words, OBSE reflects the self-perceived value of individuals in an
organizational context.
There have some determinants of self-esteem that were highlighted by scholars